In five years, NABU has referred fewer than 14% of criminal cases to court, according to a lawyer
11 May 12:41
Despite showing increased activity over the past five years, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau has referred only 13.4% of criminal cases to court. Thesefigures were cited in an interview with "Komersant Ukrainian" by Vyacheslav Trunov, a distinguished lawyer of Ukraine and expert in business defense .
According to him, reports from the NABU and the SAPO in recent years show an increase in the number of suspicions, indictments, and court outcomes. However, if one analyzes official statistics rather than the institutions’ press releases, their effectiveness appears much worse.
Vyacheslav Trunov
“According to our calculations based on public reports, NABU and SAPO initiated approximately 3,928 criminal proceedings or investigations between 2020 and 2025. During this period, 527 indictments were filed in court. That is, the proportion of cases referred to court is approximately 13.4%,” the lawyer noted.
He also explained that these figures indicate that out of every 100 proceedings initiated, only about 13–14 indictments reach the court. At the same time, Trunov noted that corruption cases are complex and protracted. However, NABU also possesses powers unprecedented in the country for investigating them.
“The question remains: can the system be called sufficiently effective if, with such broad powers, only about 13.4% of the total caseload over six years reaches court? This is not an answer, but a question for public discussion. But without this figure, the discussion will be incomplete,” the lawyer believes.
Vyacheslav Trunov emphasized that NABU and the SAPO should present the public with complete statistics before demanding yet another expansion of their powers. This applies to both data on the duration of pre-trial investigations and judicial oversight.
READ ALSO: Before asking for even more power, NABU must present the public with complete statistics on investigation timelines
In addition, the lawyer recalled the results of the latest NABU audit, which showed that the bureau does not maintain its own statistics on motions filed by detectives and the outcomes of their review; therefore, the legislative initiatives submitted by the bureau lack a statistical basis.
“How can one ask to change the rules of judicial oversight if even the full statistics on NABU’s court filings have not been publicly disclosed: the structure of motions, the proportion of granted and denied motions, the grounds for denials, and the categories of cases where problems arise? We hear a lot about the independence of anti-corruption agencies. But we hear much less about their statistical transparency. And this is precisely what the heads of anti-corruption institutions hardly ever discuss. They often speak of the complexity of cases, of the public interest, and of the need for efficiency. But if the key complaint concerns deadlines and judicial oversight, then without complete statistics on deadlines, such a discussion appears incomplete,” concluded Vyacheslav Trunov.
As a reminder, earlier, NABU Director Semen Kryvonos and SAPO Head Oleksandr Klymenko sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Ukraine demanding that their powers be strengthened and their funding increased. Subsequently, the publication “Sudovo-Yuridichna Gazeta” published a draft of legislative changes proposed by the anti-corruption agencies. In particular, the document calls for extending the time limits for pre-trial investigations, eliminating judicial oversight, and expanding a range of powers for NABU and the SAP.
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